Live it All Up Now
by 96thPerson
Summary: Previously titled Now or Never. What it was exactly was unknown, but the Elf could feel it. She only followed her instincts, and hunted down the energy. She didn't know why she did it, but she believed in her gut feeling. Something was coming... Something was here. Story about the Elsword NPC's.
1. Beginning

OH SCNAPS, THIS ONE NEVER GOT BACK UP O_O So yeah... Expect an update coming soon, I'll get the OtDRcHY update later... The only question I have for you is, Amusement Park or School? Where would you rather see a chase scene? Cuz there are these other two fics I'm working on (and shirking all my promised fics shot*) and one is where Elsword gets thrown into a gang mess XD;;

B u t anyway, that doesn't matter. All I care about is the story at hand~ It's about the Epic NPC's of the Elsword verse, with Amelia as the main character. Please, expect major OOCness, as all my fanfics have. Enjoy~

* * *

Something was coming.

It was a dark energy, foreboding and menacing, and it brought with it ill will and bad times. What it was exactly was unknown, but the Elf could feel it. She could hear it coming, see the signs it was hear... She only followed her instincts, and hunted down the energy. She didn't know why she did it, but she believed in her gut feeling.

Something was coming.

Something was here.

* * *

It all started in the forest.

Amelia took aim, her muscles tense, her whole body on edge. She waited from her perch in the tree, breathing steadily, listening, not making a sound. There was a rustle and her aim snapped to the bush it had come from. A few seconds later, it rustled again. Amelia breathed out, and with her exhale, let the arrow fly. Her fingers pulled away from the sting and it snapped forward, propelling the angle straight off her bow. It took a spiraling motion and flew straight into the bush with deadly fast precision. There was a high-pitched yelp, and then nothing.

"... Lime?"

Not a sound. Amelia climbed down from her perch and trotted over, pushing the leaves of the bust aside. There was a ripped piece of green and white cloth, obviously Lime's. Lime was the only person who Amelia had ever missed with her shooting, and Amelia was the only one who could stop Lime's assaulting kicks. They were elves, and though they were from different tribes, they could sense each other and their magic all the same.

"Lime, are you still there?"

Amelia flinched to the left and nocked Lime's leg out of the way, sending her skidding across the floor. The green-haired Elf kick-wormed into an offensive stance and stared at her friend, before motioning angrily to the large rip in the side of her skirt. "I just fixed this from our last run in!"

"Oh, sorry about that..." Amelia smiled, rubbing her head. "I didn't know it was you."

"Pfft, like hell you didn't." Lime replied, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. "You can always sense me, right?"

"Yeah, I can. Usually." Amelia replied, retrieving her arrow and handing the cloth to Lime. Lime took it and tucked it in her bag, fluttering her wings nervously. "Usually?"

"I don't know, but I couldn't tell it was you until you screamed. Usually, I can just sense it's you, you have this energy about you." Amelia explained. "It's like how I can tell when Speka is going to try to blow me up or something. It's also how I can vaguely track Edan. But recently, something's turned that sense off."

"So what you're saying is that your sensing has magically disappeared?" Lime asked. Amelia nodded. "Great, just great."

"I don't know. Some dark magic interference maybe, maybe Speka's trying to prank me or something." Amelia reasoned. Lime proceeded to kick at the ground. "Hey, speaking of Edan, you haven't heard from him, have you?"

"I thought he left after getting whipped by Valak." Amelia said.

"That's what I thought too, but I recently spoke with Lowe and he seems to believe that Edan's come back." Lime said. Her wings fluttered nervously again. "Should we go check on him?"

"Yeah. Maybe we should head over to Velder and speak with Speka as well. I want to know if she's the one who's blocked my sensing." Amelia said. "But I can't believe Lowe is still talking to you, even after the beating you gave him."

"It wasn't that bad... Compared to the one I want to give to Q-Proto_00 for breaking my bow, his was nothing." Lime scowled, punching her hand. "That little Nasod is gonna get it when I see her next, if she's lucky to come out of that fight, it'll take her decades to fix herself."

Amelia smiled and pat her friend's shoulder. "No need to get rough now... You can hit her all you want later."

"Fine. Anyway, let's just focus on Lowe for now." Lime sighed. "I should hit that man."

After a day's long travel, Amelia and Lime finally reached Ruben where Lowe was training new recruits. He was working with a young girl, raising the sword in her hands and directing her which way to swing. She swung twice, nearly hitting him, and he took the sword.

"Why don't you head home for the day? I think you're getting tired." Lowe said with a nervous smile. The little girl frowned, but said, "Okay... See you tomorrow, sir."

"Well aren't you the heart breaker?" Amelia whistled. Lowe glanced up from putting away his swords and jumped at Lime and Amelia standing there.

"Amelia! L-Lime!" He yelped, hiding behind the blade rack. Amelia laughed and walked over to him, leading him out from behind the rack. "It's okay, Lowe. She won't hurt you this time. At least, not that badly."

"I said I was sorry! I didn't know that was your forest!" Lowe yelped again, but Lime silenced him with a punch to the hand. "Didn't know it was mine, my ass."

Lowe squeaked and hid behind Amelia, Lime's smiling glare scaring the living daylights out of him. It had been at least a month since she had beaten him into the floor, he still didn't dare approach any of the forests on his own. "What are you two doing here, anyway?"

"There are a few reasons." Amelia replied. "Why don't you take us to your home and make us some food? We'll explain everything there."

"But I don't want to bring you to my house." Lowe started.

Lime punched her hand twice this time, cocking her head to the side. "But you want to bring us to your house. You want to make us food, too. And you really want to let us stay the night or I'll hit you."

Lowe gulped and nodded quickly, saying, "Yes, yes I do! Come on, I'll make some food!"

They arrived at Lowe's home a few minutes later, where he started some vegetable stew and tea. "I don't know if you guys are vegetarian or not, so I'm just making a vegetable stew and tea."

"Yes, I can see that." Lime replied, sarcasm dripping from her tongue. "Are you going to ask if I want to sit down?"

Lowe rushed to the table and pulled a chair out for her. "W-would you like to sit down, Lime?"

"No, I'm alright, thanks." Lime smiled. "Amelia, do you want to sit?"

"May I, Lowe?" She asked. He nodded and went back to the kitchen as the kettle started whistling, and she sat down, waiting for him to bring back their tea. When he came back and handed them the cups, he asked, "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, first off, I overheard a little bird tell Lime that Edan seemed to have returned. Did I hear correctly?" Amelia asked. Lowe nodded. "I got in touch with Noah who had talked with Valak. Apparently, he seemed to be pretty angry, saying something about Edan returning."

"I see..." Amelia "hmm"ed him. Lowe nodded. "I don't know if what I heard from her was the truth, but she sounded pretty sure of herself."

"... Hmm... Well, the second order of business, I can't seem to sense you guys any more." Amelia said, taking a sip of her tea. Lowe choked, coughing a few times and slamming his cup on the table. "What?!"

"It's just like it sounds. I seem to have lost my sense." Amelia nodded. "I can't tell where anyone is anymore, I couldn't even tell who Lime was when I shot her earlier."

Lowe made a face. "You shot- You shot Lime?"

"I missed." She admitted, pointing to the tear in Lime's dress. "No big deal, I always miss her anyway. I believe it might be Speka who's dimming with my sensing. Some dark magic interference or something. I need to go to Velder and speak with her, will you come with me?"

Lowe spit his tea back into it's cup and sprayed some in his face. With a cough and a gag, he wiped his eyes, and then stared at her. "To see Speka? With you? And Lime? Are you joking?!"

Amelia and Lime stared at him. He stared back, before placing his hand over his eyes and sighing. "You aren't kidding. Okay, let me just... Get my food, get your food... We'll eat, sleep, then decide. I just... I don't even know right now."

"Alright then. Thank you for having us tonight." Amelia said as Lowe brought out the bowels of stew. Lime joined them at the table, and together, they sat down to eat.

Later that night, Lime and Amelia were in the guest room of Lowe's house, in the dark, well after everyone was asleep. Amelia wasn't though, she was awake as day, with millions of questions running through her head. What was wrong with her sense? Was Edan really back? Did Speka really have something to do with this? What did any of this mean? How did she tie into this? Why _her_?

"Hey. Hey Lime." She whispered, turning on her side. Lime grumbled something and shifted under the covers of her mattress on the floor. Amelia prodded her in the side, the Forest Spirit's wings fluttering in annoyance. "Amelia, I'm trying to sleep."

"I know, sorry. But I need to get something off my chest." Amelia replied, withdrawing her hand. Lime groaned and turned on her side, her florescent green eyes lighting seemingly lighting up the room. She sighed. "What?"

If there was one thing Amelia knew, it was that Lime never hesitated to act as a therapist. If someone wanted to talk to her, she'd listen until they had talked themselves out of words. It wasn't like she wasn't annoyed by the constant blabbing, it obviously got her ticked. No, she seemed to love the gossip and interesting stories she got out of it, so it was much more fun than annoying.

"I don't think it's really Speka who's stopped my sensing." Amelia said, staring at her friend's eyes. "It doesn't feel like her magic."

"Then why did you say it was?" Lime asked, her nose scrunching in annoyance.

"I don't know. At first I thought it was hers, but her magic has a different hold. In fact, I'm starting to doubt it's even magic." Amelia explained, turning on her back. She rested her head on her hands and stared at the ceiling. "Though it feels like magic, it has an electrical buzz to it... Who do we know that could do that?"

"Speka could have used an electrical-type spell... Like that Lightning Bolt she has on her. " Lime reasoned. "Or it could be Apple or that stupid Code."

"... Maybe it was Apple, she always seems to be up to something." Amelia responded.

"If you want my opinion, it was Code:Q-Proto_00. She broke my bow, tried to kill Valak and Noah, went after Apple, I bet she has a grudge against everyone." Lime grunted, turning her winged-back to Amelia.

"Lime, that's just your personal vendetta talking." Amelia chuckled, earning a glare over the shoulder. "... But it's a good idea. Still though, why would she come after me?"

"Maybe she doesn't want any competition. I bet she wants to kill someone and thinks we'll get in the way." Lime replied. "It's not that farfetched."

Amelia fell silent. That was probably it, but it still didn't feel right. "What if it was Speka though?"

"Damnit Amelia, make up your mind. Was it Speka or Code?" Lime snapped. "I want to go to sleep, we're getting up early tomorrow."

"... I'm going to stick with Speka. Good night, Lime." Amelia said, watching her friend's wings flutter before falling limp. Her breathing returned to normal, and then finally, she was asleep again.

Amelia wasn't so lucky. The first lights of the day were showing through the window when she finally drifted to sleep, and she woke up what seemed to be five minutes later to something that smelled delicious and Lime jumping on the edge of her bed like a child.

Oh boy, this was just gonna be great


	2. Middle

Amelia grumbled tiredly as they emerged from the wagon. She practically fell off the side, bringing her bow to the floor with her. He bag that was previously slung over her shoulder sluggishly followed the bow, and she stayed on the floor, buried under her bag and her bow. She was tired, and sore, and hungry, and just plain aggravated. Two straight days of feasting off mushrooms and mickeys, sitting in wagons, and sleepless nights was wreaking havoc on her body.

"Guys..." she moaned. "I need to sleep..."

Lowe and Lime stared down at the poor, dying blonde on the floor, and burst out laughing. "How about some real food first?"

"You two go eat, just find me an inn. Hell, I'll take the worst one in town if it gets me a bed." Amelia whined. She rolled over and sat up, grabbing Lime's hand and pulling herself to her feet. With a stagger and an, "I'm okay..!" she blinked and started following the two of them.

"Well, I guess we'll just go get some food and bring you back something." Lowe said. "Anything you want?"

"A bed." Amelia stated as they entered the inn. She rubbed her eyes and followed Lowe as he led her to their rooms. "Here, you and Lime share this one."

Lime took the key and unlocked the door, and Amelia practically sprinted to the bed. She flopped down on it and sighed in content, asleep within seconds of hitting the pillow. Lime chuckled at her friend and placed their bags by the door, but left Amelia's bow by the bed. If someone attacked, she'd need to have it right there. Quietly, she tiptoed across the room to the door and closed it without a sound, meeting Lowe in the hallway.

"She's lost her sense, will she be okay?" He asked. Lime smiled. "Don't underestimate her, she's capable of handling herself, even if she is better in a team."

A few hours later, Amelia awoke to the sun that was a little passed mid-day. There was food on the bedside table, and with great gusto, she devoured the dish that was left out for her. At that moment, she didn't care what it was, but it tasted like meat, and she was cool with that. After a few moments, she grabbed her bow and strapped in to her back before heading out to throw away the box. She passed Lowe's room and could see him sleeping peacefully from the crack in the door. She could also see all the markings on his face, no doubt Lime's fault.

She stepped down the stairs and entered the inn lobby, where the woman who ran it was waitressing with her two daughters. Her husband was running the bar, where Lime was in a drinking contest with a few of the guys, who were more than hammered. She was probably the best drinker in the world, even Valak was wasted before she was. Amelia was a major lightweight, even more than Lowe, and tried to stay as far away from alcohol as much as she could.

"Miss, would you like me to take that?"

"Huh? What? Oh, uh, no, I got it, thanks." Amelia smiled at the man. He looked about the same age as one of the girls who was working with her mother, and was slightly chubby with a baby face and brown hair. He had on a suit, and actually looked allot like the woman who ran the bar. Yeah, he was their son. "Are you heading out for a while miss?"

"Yes, I am, actually. If my friends start asking about me, just tell them I've left for a bit and will come back soon." Amelia said. "Thank you."

As she left, she quickly turned the corner and dumped the box in the trash. Something about the wind was off, she couldn't name what, but it didn't feel right.

"Oh, Amelia, is that you~?" A voice chimed. She turned to see Apple running towards her, her drones in a bag and her hand up. "Yoo hoo~!"

"Apple! What are you doing here?" The Elf asked, staring the princess up and down. Her new bag matched all the pink on her dress and clothing, like a perfect fashionista. "Where are Charon and Persephone?"

"They're waiting back at the carriage for me. I just came to pick up some silk and some foods, maybe even a little jewlery, you know~?" She asked, winking. "Hey, I head that Noah and Speka were both in town, hmm~? It's amazing, they're actually in the same place and nothing has blown up!"

Amelia laughed. There was no way Apple was the one who had blocked her sensing. "Yeah, that is pretty phenomenal. Have you seen them?"

"Noah's in her usual place by the palace, actually I just left from a visit with her. You should stop by an say hi, maybe bring Lime with you~" Apple smiled, cocking her head cutely.

"How did you know Lime was with me...?" Amelia inquired, and Apple just smiled. "Silly, I saw you when you went to the inn. I called for you but you guys didn't hear me~... It made me all sad, you know? Poo!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Apple... I'll look out for you next time, okay?" Amelia said. "Hey, why don't you hurry back to the carriage? It looks like Charon and Persephone are getting impatient with you."

"Oh, yeah, I should go. I'll see you later, Amelia~!" With that, she turned and ran off, leaving Amelia to her thoughts. It was still early, maybe she'd go back to the inn and get Lowe and Lime to come and see Noah with her. That sounded like a good plan, yeah...

A half an hour later, Amelia dragged Lowe and Lime from the inn and to Velder Castle to meet Noah. It was a surprise visit, and Amelia had brought Noah a gift in case she got angry with them, the girl hated surprises.

"Come on, guys! We can't miss her, what if she goes inside?" Amelia whined, dragging them a long. Lowe was trying to struggle free, while Lime just pushed her feet into the ground. "No, I want to go back, they have really, really, REALLY good whiskey!"

Suddenly, Lowe gasped and tackled Lime and Amelia to the floor, yelling, "Look out!" A large, jagged icicle erupted from the crater, catching Lowe's ankle and growing up his calf to his knee. "Crap, I'm not going to be much help in this fight. I'll try to unfreeze myself, you two handle whatever just did this...!"

"You mean _who_ever. Lowe, I'm disappointed, I thought you knew I hated surprises."

Amelia and Lime glanced up at the purple haired girl sitting on the top of the gate. She was dressed in full armor and had a shield on one arm, and an axe-like staff in the other hand. It was Noah, and her ice magic, no doubt.

"Noah! It's Amelia, Lime, and Lowe! We're not trespassers!" Amelia yelled, still hovering next to Lowe. "My leg... I can't feel my leg...!"

"Lowe, just sit tight, we'll get you out of this, but let us handle Noah first." Lime said, touching the ice. Her hand snapped back from it, frost already glazing the tips of her fingers. "Oh no, this is not good..."

"My toes are starting to freeze, I think I caught frostbite." Lowe looked at Lime, desperation in his eyes. "What do I do?"

"Um, um, I don't know, burn it?"

"Oh, with what matches?!"

"I don't know, you asked!"

"Guys!" Amelia yelled, dodging another two ice balls. Noah had multiple ice balls floating around her. They were thin and filled with frost, and they were all splintering outwards like the icicle that froze Lowe's leg. Amelia backflipped and shot twice up at the Ice Queen, but missed and blew up two of the globes.

Noah flinched and blocked her face, her staff and shield freezing over. With a growl, she shook herself off and cracked all the ice away from her, sending it and two of the globes flying Amelia's way. She covered her face as a few of the smaller chunks slit shallow cuts on her arms and legs. Lime yelled something and jumped in front her her, performing two Reflect Kicks in a row. Most of the larger chunks went flying back to Noah, and she blocked with her shield.

When she pulled it away, a Rail Stinger hit her in the shoulder. It drove through two layers of her armor before flying off to the left and into the sky. Whit a grunt, she skid to the edge of the gate, and then yelped as she fell backwards off the top. Lime and Amelia got into offensive stances, watching Noah catch her balance and then casually float to the floor. She cushioned herself with a frigid wind, and then lightly tapped her feet as she hit the ground. "Playtime's over, ladies."

Amelia drew back the bow string and fired one arrowed. It was followed by another, and then two more before Noah started retaliating. She summoned up a large, icy cloud over head, it was black with the anger of the storm. With a wave of her staff, she called forth a shower of hail and ice, screaming over the roar, "Blizzard Shower!"

Lime dodged and kicked her way through the storm and to Noah as fast as she good, only to get blasted back by an Ice Circle. She screamed as she skid along the floor, kicking up dust before hitting a tree. Amelia would have yelled with Lowe if she wasn't preoccupied with dancing and shooting through. She stepped to the side of a chunk of ice, shooting for the queen, then sidestepped another block and shot again. She picked up her foot and shot two more times as one impacted and made a crater by her foot, and then she spun around another two, drawing back her string and backflipping to shoot Noah. As her feet lightly tapped on the ground, Amelia spun out of the way of one of the largest blocks of ice and hail, and through the dust, fired an arsenal of arrows off at Noah.

Noah nocked the first aside and dodged the second one, but got hit by the last three in the volley. Another wave came flying, sending her crashing to the floor, where she groaned in pain. She blinked herself awake and gasped at Lime's glowing foot coming straight for her face, and tried to roll out of the way but found her sleeve pinned by an arrow. Lime was nearly on top of her, when a high-speed shot of purple plasma caught her in the side and sent her flying with a yelp.

Amelia, Lowe, and Noah glanced up to see Speka standing where Noah previously stood, her hand steaming from the single Plasma Cutter. "What are you up too? Are you having some fun without me?"

Her dress was gothic and consisted of mainly blacks and purples, with long sleeves and a short skirt, and skulls on the bands at her waist, under her breasts, and her upper arms. It had an open back to allow room for her wings and show off her tattoo, and it flowed into a V-neck collar. She wore a large hat that had a purple lace bow with a skull and a black rose binding it over her purple hair that was in braids. Her socks had garters that matched the bands on her dress, and were pure black and tearing at the thighs and knees. She had knee high combat boots on, that were slightly untied near the tops and had purple soles that seemed to have cloth sewed into the back of the shoe. Oddly, she didn't have her staff with her, nor was Angkor floating around her head or sitting on her shoulder.

"God, Speka, you're here! Help me unfreeze Lowe, before he looses his foot!" Amelia yelped as Lime limped over to her side. She was holding her arm, and one of her wings was bent awkwardly and hanging limp.

"Hmm~ No. I like Noah much much more than you, you're all just to weak and goody!" Speka smiled, stepping over to the Ice Queen and pulling her to her feet.

This wasn't right. Amelia finally had a second to think about it, and everything was all off. Speka shouldn't be helping Noah, or helping anyone for that matter! She'd sooner let her own mother die than help if it didn't benefit her, so why was she assisting her rival, the Ice Queen, of all people? The other thing was Noah herself. She knew Amelia, they were great friends, and Noah was never aggressive towards her. Never her nor the people she was with, never anyone unless they fought her first. Just like Appl...

"Oh my god, that's just it!" Amelia exclaimed. "What, what's just it? Are you done fighting?!" Lime demanded with a glare. She hissed, "That's more pathetic than Lowe!"

"No, no, it's not Speka blocking my sense, it's Apple. Of course it was her, how did I not notice?! The last person to be here before Noah attacked was Apple, and she told me I should come and visit. It was a set up, how could I be so stupid?!" Amelia demanded to herself, slapping her hands on her head. "Dammit, dammit, dammit! Come on, let's just get these two back to normal before I get really angry."

Lime smirked. "That's my girl. I got this."

With a scream, Lime dashed forward and unleashed a flurry of swift kicks on the two royal mages. With a kick upward, she summersaulted into the air and then plummeted downwards, creating a shock-wave that blasted the two back. Speka retaliated with her own attack, blasting four fireballs the Spirt's way, and then summoned a large stone over her head.

"Eat this Hell Stone!" She screamed, the stone thrusting itself down over her and drilling into her stomach. She coughed blood and rolled on her side with a groan as blood gushed from the wound and her mouth and stained the now-melting snow and fresh grass below her. Amelia gasped, and then turned a rage filled glare on Speka. "I'll slit your throat."

She rushed forward, too fast for Speka to react to and grabbed her collar, flipping her over. With a grunt, Amelia drop kicked the princess into the air, and then nocked an arrow and aimed. It flew on a curved path, merely cutting Speka's nose instead of cutting it off, and then exploded. A large ball of air surrounded the mage and buffeted her body, tearing her dress and hat apart. Her hair flew from it's braids and the leaves, twigs, and magic imbued in the Wind Wall left practically her entire body red with blood. They were shallow cuts, but she'd bleed out if she didn't do something _fast_.

Speka was dropped to her knees, and she collapsed on the floor in a panting, bloody mess. Her hair was messy and matted, and her clothes and skin were ripped, but overall it was healable and she'd be fine. She glanced up to see Amelia and Noah engaged in a battle, with Noah pushed as far offensive as could be. The shout of "Crazy Shot!" rung out as a storm of arrows surrounded Noah and reduced her armor to useless scraps before sending her flying into the wall of the castle, an arrow digging itself into her shoulder.

"Lime, Lime, are you still awake?" Speka asked, swiftly crawling over to the Spirit. She chuckled at the obscene hand gesture that was given as a sign she was alive, and quickly said, "Listen, I'm going to heal you for helping with my plan, so turn on your back, okay?"

Without consent, she pushed the Spirit on her back and channeled her energy into her hands, placing them on the gash in her stomach. There was a purple light, and then Lime shot up, punching Speka in the jaw. "Thanks for nothing!"

Her wings stood straight up in anger and she was scowling. "If this is your plan, than hurry up and finish it, I need you to burn Lowe free before he looses more than just his leg."

She ran over to the knight and Speka turned around to examine how Amelia and Noah's fight was going. Amelia was flipping between defensive and offensive, and so was Noah as they exchanged arrows and icicles. Speka dashed forward and threw a dark ball at Noah that paused her attack movements before she tried to avoid getting sucked in. "Amelia! Move!" Speka yelled, and then pointed a finger at Noah, calling "Binding Circle!"

The Ice Queen was completely frozen as Speka threw a dark cloud at her feet. It exploded, all the grass and weeds around her withering and dying, the poison seeping into Noah's body. She collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath and clutching her neck as she felt a choking sensation coming on. "Sp-Spe-ka, what did you-?!"

"Tell me where Valak is and I'll save you from the poison." Speka said, standing over the other mage.

"I-I won't say a thing...!" She coughed, spitting something that looked like a cross between green slime, saliva, and blood. Speka prodded her jaw lightly with her toe, saying, "I can cure this poison, but if you don't tell me within the next two minutes, you're going to die."

"... H-he's..." Noah paused to cough, before weakly glaring. "Save me and I'll tell you."

"Tik tok, tik tok, Noah. Where. Is. Valak?" Speka asked again, anger practically seeping from her figure. Noah gasped and stared past Speka to her shadow, that was growing to a monster with glowing yellow eyes and bared fangs. It was oozing darkness, and it's back was evaporating into the fires of Hell themselves. "Okay okay! Valak is hiding out in a cave in the forest! He believes that Edan has returned and wants to intercept him and finished him off once and for all!"

The next time she looked up, Speka's shadow was normal again, and her hand was in her face. It was pulling back and closing, green seeping from Noah's mouth and into her hand. Noah coughed on the floor for a few seconds, before staring at all the damage around her. "Wh-what happened?"

"You don't remember?" Amelia asked, hauling her off the floor. "You tried to kill us."

"Wha- Oh my gosh, Amelia, I'm sorry!" Noah fretted, putting her hands up and waving in a flustered motion. Speka snorted, crossing her arms. "I liked the aggressive Noah better."

Amelia glared and pulled them both over to Lowe and Lime. Lowe was digging his hand into his thigh and covering his face, as though trying to hide he was crying. "Guys, help me. I can't feel my foot at all, and my knee is starting to loose feeling. I don't want to loose my leg."

"... Speka, get me a bucket of hot water." Noah said. Speka gave her an incredulous look. "Wha- To help- You expect me to help you-"

"SPEKA DO IT NOW!" Noah snarled. "I'm going to unfreeze him, but we're going to need to get his leg warmed up again before anything. I hope you don't mind wet shoes, Lowe."

As Speka skittered off to get the water, Lime ran to go find a light log for him to sit on. "Amelia, hold him, this is probably going to hurt."

As she started melting the ice, Lowe took a sharp intake of breath. "Are you alright?"

"F-fine. Just hurry." He muttered, clenching her hand tightly. "What if I lose my leg?"

"You're not going to, don't worry." Amelia chided. Speka came back, cutting it with, "Yeah, you're only going to lose a few toes."

"Speka!" The mage and archer both snapped at the same time. The ice had finally melted just as Lime came back dragging a log. "I'm back, here, I'll help sit him down.

With great effort, they helped Lowe hobble over to the log and sit down. "Here, just ease your leg into this, and- SPEKA!"

Lowe hissed and tried to knee the mage in the face. "What? You people were taking to long! Why not just shove his whole leg in the water?"

"You stupid idiot, this isn't how you deal with frostbite! God, what the hell are you thinking?!" Noah yelled. Lowe twitched, refusing to make a sound. Finally, after a long silence, and long after the water cooled down, he looked up with a sharp intake of breath. His eyes were watery, he was covering his mouth with his hand, and his leg was twitching. "I've lost toes, haven't I?"

"Lowe, we don't know that yet..." Amelia started, but he cut her off. "No, no, I did, I can... Can't feel it. Three of my toes, I've lost all feeling in."

"Take your shoe off, let's find out." Lime instructed. He pulled his leg out of the water, kicking it in Speka's general direction and getting her completely soaked while he was at it. She huffed, before crossing her arms and storming off into the forest. The group couldn't help but laugh, but quickly stopped as Lowe examined his foot. "Yeah, these three toes."

"Should we... Should we cut them off?" Amelia asked. He nodded. "We have to. They'll just damage everything else."

"... Lowe, I am so sorry." Amelia apologized. "H-how can I make up for this?"

Lowe, despite all his disappointment and pain, leaned back and crossed his arms. "Well, we'll just have to see what'chu got, eh?"

"Alright then. Just sit tight, this might hurt." Amelia said, ushering Lime over to hold his foot. Noah hit him with some sort of paralyzing smell, and the next time he could move on his own, he was missing three toes


	3. End

"Lowe, are you feeling okay?" Amelia asked the man as he grit his teeth and continued limping along with her. Lime and Noah walked ahead of them, pausing every so often to check on the limping Lowe. He hissed lowly, and continued along. "I'm fine. Stop worrying about me, we need to find Speka again."

Noah sighed. "I'd love to say it was your fault she left, but she would have left anyway."

"Yeah, that's just the problem." Lime muttered. "She just comes and goes whenever. Not like I give a rat's ass though, she can go get eaten by her own stupid bat for all I care-"

"Which is what I was wondering about." Amelia cut Lime off. "Why didn't she have Angkor with her? What happened to her staff? And were those some how connected to why she was looking for Valak?"

"Actually, I think I might have heard of a bit of this." Lowe said. "Let's take a break here."

The group sat down, Noah starting a fire. "Times like these, I wish I could still use my fire magic."

They laughed, but started listening to Lowe again. "I seem to recall a bit ago, something about someone stealing a staff from a great witch. With that staff was a contract and a demon from the depths of Hell itself. Perhaps what I heard was someone stealing Speka's staff, and with that staff, Angkor."

"But who would want her staff?" Amelia asked. "A fellow mage? No one is powerful enough to wield that weapon though, did they want to disable her?"

"You saw how she still used her magic. Even without her staff she's dangerous." Noah responded, shivering at the thought of the poison.

"But then what would they- Oh my god, that's it. The staff is Angkor's... anchor. It's what keeps him bound to this world. In oder to render Speka's Angkor attacks useless, they would need the staff. And why not the contract? I'd guess that if something happened to it, Angkor would go back to Hell." Amelia said, taking a quick breath. "Why would she suspect Valak?"

"... Maybe it's not Valak-" Lowe started but was cut off with a, "It's Edan I'm looking for. He stole my staff, and my little Angkor."

Speka softly landed on the floor with a graceful spin, placing one hand on her hip. Her hat was completely fixed, but she was in shorts with thigh-high boots and socks, and a half cut jacket over a shirt that showed her stomach. "Everything that you guys have predicted is exactly true, but I suppose even an idiot would have thought of that..." She said, examining her nails.

"You're not putting us on the same level as you, are you." Noah hissed. Speka nodded curtly. "Not in the least. You'll have to retrieve my staff and then defeat me at my full power to be on my level."

Noah growled. "Speka, I am just about sick and tired of your stuck up attitude and how we're lesser than you in your mind. In case you haven't noticed, you're the one coming to us for help, and in case you haven't noticed, your staff and your ridiculous little pet are missing, so please, before you come begging to us to get you your staff, get down on your knees and plead for forgiveness from your past actions, or so help me, I will freeze both of your arms and your mouth you ungrateful little twit."

Everyone was taken aback. Noah must have been really pissed to go off on Speka like this, even though she did usually speak her mind. Speka looked angry, her face red with embarrassment and anger, but she didn't say anything. Finally, she smacked Noah's cheek and pushed her face aside, brushing past her. "I never said I was asking for help. I said you'd have to find me my staff. Not like I need your help anyway, but I could use the meat shields and backup. Hurry up, we should get going."

As she left, Lowe growled under his breath. "Such a nuisance..."

Lime punched the wall, shaking her hand and cursing lowly. "Damn that brat, I should just go and kick her damn ass right now."

"Noah, Lime, Lowe, this isn't the time to worry. I'm starting to feel like we're getting close." Amelia said, placing a hand on Lowe's shoulder and Lime's arm.

"I thought you said your sense was cut off." Lime asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"I did." Amelia replied. "But I'm getting some huge feedback from deeper in that forest. There's a group of people, and two of those signals, I'm pretty sure, are Edan and Valak."

Lime took a sharp breath. "Do you think..."

"I know. Valak was right, Edan has come back."

The grave tone in her voice made her sound more spooky than serious, even though everyone knew how deadly serious she was. "Hey! Slowpokes! Hurry up, I'm not getting any younger here!" Speka yelled, waving them over.

"Jesus, shut up Speka! We'll be over in a minute!" Lime yelled back.

Speka huffed. "Don't shush me! Just wait till I get my little Angkor back, I'll make you eat those words-"

Lime's eyes widened as a mushroom cloud appeared behind Speka. It was closer than she had thought, debris and trees flying this way and that, the ground and side of the mountain being torn up by the explosion. "Speka, look out!"

Lime dashed forward and tackled the witch to the floor, tumbling out of the way of a few trees. After the dust cleared, Speka stared up at Lime, who was leaning half over her with a gash and a large chunk of wood in her shoulder and staring back at the forest. She gasped and ducked, protecting Speka's head and upper body with her back as another explosion sounded, and a Nasod Spear came spinning past them.

"That's Code's blade!" Speka shrieked, attempting to get up. Lime held her down for a little longer, listening. "Speka, quiet for a second."

Oddly, the witch stayed quiet, allowing Lime to hear the clanging of blades. A small round of gunfire echoed in her ears, and a sharp yell. "I think I hear Valak down there."

"What? Let me go, I need to go find him! He knows where Edan is!" Speka struggled. There was a round of clashing blades, and then Valak and Code:Q-Proto_00 rose into the air, before charging each other. "There's Valak for you!"

Lime staggered to her feet, clutching her shoulder. Over the roar of the battle, Amelia yelled, "Guys, can you hear me?!"

"Loud and clear!" Lime yelled back.

"Great, I was worried. It seems this tree has effectively cut us off. Me and Lowe are gonna head down to see what's the commotion, you two should do the same." Amelia instructed. "We'll meet you down there."

"Got it!" Lime yelled, and then there was nothing but Valak and Code:Q-Proto_00 fighting. Lime watched Valak slash twice across Code's chest, before sending her spiraling back with an explosion, but she retaliated with a spiral of Nasod spears before she jumped above him and sent him crashing to the ground with four glowing spears to the chest. Lime started to rush to the edge of the mountain, when Speka caught her arm. "Why did you save me?"

Lime was silent. Speka pulled her arm back and yanked the wood out of her shoulder, before channeling her energy and healing it. Lime turned to her and smirked. "I'm not as low as you are. It may have been instinct, but I'm not just going to stand by and let someone get hurt."

Speka huffed, turning away from Lime. "You're such an idiot, you know that? I could have protected myself...!"

"... You're welcome." She muttered, still smiling. "Anyway, let's get going. I bet Lowe's foot is already healed and Charon and Persephone are making tea for them. Let's get going before we get too old."

Lime slid down the side of the mountain, while Speka just floated her way over the rubble. As they got to the thicker part of the forest where the battle was happening, Lime yelped as she tripped over a conveniently placed, very sharp rock. She put her hands out to catch herself, but saw the oncoming crater and yelped again, closing her eyes. The fall never came, and she stared back at Speka who was slowly lowering her to the bottom. "You... Saved me...?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not helping you or anything. I'm paying you back so we're even and you can't use that against me. Also, I need the meat shield, so don't die until I have Angkor back." Speka stated, huffing.

"Right. Of course not." Lime replied, rolling her eyes. Suddenly, the smoke was cut through by a spinning blade that had both Lime and Speka flinching out of the way. "Hey, isn't that Lowe's...?"

"Oh, god no, they got involved in Valak and Code's damn argument. We might as well just make their grave markers now." Lime sighed exasperatedly. "Keep moving, come on!"

They entered the smoke screen, Lime's eyes and throat burning from the fire. Speka wasn't much better, but she hid her mouth with her hat so she could breather better. As she scanned what little she could she, she tripped over something, that triggered and explosion next to her. She screamed in surprise, even though she wasn't hurt, and could hear Lime calling for her as she was thrown into the air. She felt herself falling, her stomach dropping as she gained speed. The ground was approaching, fast, and if she didn't do something, she'd be flatter than a pancake in a matter of seconds.

Speka geared up to cast a spell, when something rammed her from the side. It nocked what little breath was left in her lungs out of her and she blacked out for a second.

Next she awoke, Edan was still holding her upper back and legs, moving quickly. He ducked behind a tree and glanced out the side, before glancing back at Speka.

"You woke up." He stated.

She flushed in anger and tried to kick him, but he dropped her to the floor. She yelped as her back and butt connected with the hard ground, and then coughed upon sitting up. She glared up at Edan. "What did you do with my darling Angkor?"

Her staff was thrust in her face, Angkor materializing from it's shadow. He charged her, Speka wrapping her arms around the bat and hugging him. "Angkor, Angkor, my darling, I missed you so much! Are you okay?"

"Take the damn staff, I don't have all day." Edan stated, smacking her in the side of the head with it. She yelped and snatched it, backing away and taking an offensive stance. "Where's my contract? Why did you steal it?"

"It wasn't me who stole your staff." Edan sneered. "I have no need for such a useless piece of junk."

"It wasn't... It wasn't you?" Speka tightened her grip on her staff and pointed it his way, her eyes and the tip seeping a shadow-like energy. "How do I know you aren't lying?"

"Why would I need something as useless as this? I'd only use it for firewood." Edan snorted, crossing his arms. "I wasn't the man who stole your staff, but I found the person who did."

"You- What- You did?" Speka asked, but yelped loudly as Edan grabbed her arm and jerked her to her left to avoide a volley of arrows and a few of Code:Q-Proto_00's blades. Before she could move, Edan was charging forward, getting ready to execute a Hypersonic Stab. His bellowing voice echoed through the area, and he caught Code:Q-Proto_00, Noah, and Amelia in the attack. They fell to the floor, Amelia gasping for breath as Noah helped her up, and Code:Q-Proto_00 spun to her feet. Speka looked passed them all to see Edan and Valak locked in a stance that warned death to both of them if either were to move.

Valak had Edan's blade at his throat, and if either he or Edan moved, he'd die. On the other hand, Edan had Valak's blade next to his side, the tip already piercing his skin. If he were to move, Valak would surly cut him in half.

Suddenly, Lime and another three people burst through the mess of rubble, fallen leaves, and bushes. They were locked in an intense battle, Lime pushed to the defensive while the other person was using... Wait, was that-

"Apple?!" Speka exclaimed, watching Persephone use a Spitfire before Charon blasted Lime backwards and into a tree. It was Apple, her hair was messy and knotted, her clothes torn and covered in dirt. She glanced over at Speka and waved with a smile. "Hello there, Speka~"

"Apple, it was you?" Noah asked, staring at the princess. She giggled, cantering her hip.

"Well who else would it be, silly~? Of course it was me! I wanted Edan's El, but to do that, I'd have to kill him first, so I thought, why not just pitt everyone against him? Valak was already on his tail, I stole all of Speka's valuable items and planted the evidence it was Edan, and finally, I blocked Amelia's sensing so she would kill Lime for me. Lowe was practically useless anyway, so I was just going to let him be..." Apple explained. She then turned a glare on Amelia and Noah. "But you decided that you'd go against everything and bring people with you to find Speka! It was such a terrible twist, I was so angry! So I sent Noah to do my dirty work. Who knew Speka was planning to use Noah to get to Valak? That would have gotten you all out of the picture at once!"

She smoothed what was left of her dress and took a deep breath, before turning back to Code:Q-Proto_00. "Code, dear, decapitate them all for me. Save Valak and Amelia, though, you know what I plan to do with him, and I want to kill Amelia myself."

The Code nodded and turned back to Amelia and Noah, when suddenly, a bolt of lightning and a red and white sword came flying at her back. The lightning had her sluggish, but she was fast enough to dodge the blade before it lodged itself in her back. She turned and glowered at Speka and Lowe, who were both glaring back. Lowe had a scratch over one eye that was bleeding down his face, and a cut on his upper arm, while he was limping on one foot. Speka was in much better shape, but her body was rigid and tense with anger as she hissed, "Apple. Give. Me. My. Contract."

The princess glared down at the witch and pulled the contract from her shawl. "Oh, this?"

She quickly unrolled it and skimmed over it with a bored face, before placing her hands at the top and tearing the top a little. Speka yelped and tried to rush forward, a, "No!" tearing from her throat. "Stay put!" Apple yelled, making another small tear.

Speka froze mid-step, staring at the princess. "Please, don't do that..."

"So this is important to you... I'll keep this with me, maybe then you won't ever challenge me again." Apple stated, tucking the scroll back in her shawl. Speka sighed and dropped to the floor, feeling more pathetic and useless than she had in... Well, in her whole life. Angkor materialized from the staff and floated to her lap, where she hugged him sadly.

"Apple, why did you do it?" Amelia finally asked, nocking an arrow. Valak and Edan detangled themselves and pointed both their blades at the Code as she floated over, while Noah surrounded her staff with ice crystals.

"To reign supreme, of course~! Because who else more fit than me?"

Suddenly, there was a loud shrieking noise and a volley of explosions as huge, indiscernible objects rained from the sky. It had everyone ducking for cover and holding their ears, the shrieking causing more confusion than the explosions. Apple fell to the floor with Charon and Persephone, the butler and maid short circuiting, while Apple writhed on the floor, her eyes rolling back in her head. Code:Q-Proto_00 dropped out of the air, Valak and Edan scattering in opposite directions of each other, blades still pointed at her. As soon as the shrieking stopped, she staggered to her feet and looked around, asking quietly, "Wh-where am I? This isn't the core..."

Another high-pitched shriek rang out, closer and much louder than the first. There were no explosions or falling objects, but Amelia swore her ears were bleeding. She glanced around to the others. Apple and Code on the floor, Lime and Speka had fainted, Edan and Valak seemed unaffected, and Noah and Lowe were both holding their ears.

When the shrieking stopped, Amelia and the others stared up at where the shadow was cast from. There was a man there, with long hair in a high pony tail, but the rest of him was blotched out by the sun. The group couldn't see what he was wearing, or what he was holding, hell, they could barely even tell if "he" was a guy. The only thing they could see was a vicious, cocky smirk and one glowing eye that seemed to be blazing with fire, and something in his hand.

* * *

End!

So who do you think that person is? Is it even a "he?" What's that they're holding, and what was that attack?!

We from Vesper came up with a few ideas, including Elsa, an IS NPC, a Chung NPC, or even Penensio XD So really, even if you don't comment on the story, just tell us who you think this person is!

So yeah, now that that's over, I hope you enjoyed this story, as much as I enjoyed writing it! Sorry bout the ending, but it's staying like that!

... Shuffles off to the side with hands up, fake whistling to avoid the angry mob*


End file.
